Do you think anyone can be a photographer?

12 years 8 months ago #115489 by Pettigrew
This just stir up some interesting answers! :evil: I for one think not, some people just don't have an eye for photography. Now granted you can hand a camera to a monkey and they can manage to take a photo, so really anyone can take a photo. I think there is a line between clicking a button on a camera and that called a "photographer".

What I find comical is people who buy a camera and then make claims of being a photographer. {I have a camera in my hand, therefor I must be a photographer}

So the table has been set, who wants to jump in on this conversation?

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12 years 8 months ago #115492 by DestinDave
Basically I agree with you Todd.. practically anyone can learn the mechanical aspects of operating a camera and with the Full Auto do-it-all cameras today, make decent photographs..
But, there is that line you mentioned where having "an eye" and a talent for creativity separates snap-shooters from photographers..

Dave Speicher
I thought I wanted a career.. turns out I only wanted paychecks.
dlspeicher.zenfolio.com

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12 years 8 months ago #115493 by photobod
I am a pro photographer so I guess the answer must be yes :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

www.dcimages.org.uk
"A good photograph is one that communicate a fact, touches the heart, leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective." - Irving Penn

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12 years 8 months ago #115500 by Baydream
Technically, anyone with a camera can be called a photographer just as anyone with a car can be called a driver. Anyone with a set of clubs can be called a golfer. Anyone with a paint brush and an easel can be called an artist. The difference is in the degree.

Wiki says, "A photographer (from Greek φωτός (photos), meaning "light", and γράφω (graphos), meaning "I write") is a person who makes photographs. A professional photographer uses photography to earn money whilst amateur photographers take photographs for pleasure and to record an event, emotion, place, or person."

And photobod, the monkey reference was not aimed a you.:whistle:

Shoot, learn and share. It will make you a better photographer.
fineartamerica.com/profiles/john-g-schickler.html?tab=artwork

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12 years 8 months ago #115505 by Street Shark
TV shows like "You think you can dance" and "American Idol" have had fun with people who think they are better than they actually are. In these cases, these people flat out stink at dancing or singing, in photographer, they are out there too. People who thing they are professional photographers, when in reality their work is horrible.


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12 years 8 months ago #115507 by rldimages
I think anyone can be a photographer, but there are less being who end up being good photographers.

Take my wife and I for example.

My wife has a great "eye" for photography and is very artistic, but has no interest or will not invest the time to learn the technical side which limits here.

I, on the other hand, have no natural eye at all, but study photos, techniques, and all the technical stuff to make up for it, and will bust a nut to get in the right place for the shot so I can do some good work from time to time.

Someone who combines both, a natural talent and the technical side, really has no limits.

My question would be "Can the photographic 'eye' be trained, or is it something you just have?"


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12 years 8 months ago #115511 by Crazyguy
Not everyone,

Here are my projections:

1%- Peter Like
5% - Pro's of pro's
10% - Wedding and Portrait photographers
40%- Hobbyist and humble
44% - People who's skills are less then par, but claim to be pro's :rofl:

An Irishman is not drunk as long as he can hold on to one blade of grass to keep from falling off the world.
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12 years 8 months ago #115515 by Dori
I think that happens quite often. One of my customers has a D90 with a pricey lens. I looked at his camera, set to Auto. Scanned through his photos and saw some of the most badly composed shots I have ever seen.

I guess the camera does not the photographer make.

Don't pi$$ me off, I am running out of room to store the bodies...

Resident Texasotan...

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12 years 8 months ago #115522 by Henry Peach

Baydream wrote: Technically, anyone with a camera can be called a photographer...


:agree:

Photography and photographer are very general terms that encompass a wide range of activities and motives. There are plenty of adjectives that can be used to get more specific: good, bad, art, copy, wedding, sports, famous, amateur, lousy, excellent, fine art, etc..., but IMO since 1888 pretty much anyone with camera can be called a plain, old photographer. Becoming a famous or master photographer is much more elusive, but almost any yahoo who cares to ought to be able to figure out how to become a competent photographer.

As to whether someone is a professional or not the local tax officials could probably clarify that.
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12 years 8 months ago #115525 by The Time Capturer
I believe anyone can be a photographer as a photographer produces photographs. I also believe anyone can be a "professional" photographer in the sense that professional means "selling images."

I used to believe that only those with the "photographer's eye" can become good at photography but I have been corrected by teachers saying that "eye" can be taught. I agree with that somewhat but those that have "the eye" already, will have an advantage over those that need to learn it.

Myself, I am a "professional" photographer, as I have earned an income with it. However, I still have a long way to go before I would ever consider myself "pro level," meaning capturing great images on a consistant basis.

So, to sum it up, yes I believe anyone can be a photographer ... but not everyone can be an overnight success. As in every other subject on Earth, photography isn't for everyone and it all depends on the effort you put into it as well as the desire a person has to make that effort.

Sure, practice makes perfect but, unless you learn from your mistakes, you are only perfecting your ability to fail.
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12 years 8 months ago #115527 by photobod

Baydream wrote: Technically, anyone with a camera can be called a photographer just as anyone with a car can be called a driver. Anyone with a set of clubs can be called a golfer. Anyone with a paint brush and an easel can be called an artist. The difference is in the degree.

Wiki says, "A photographer (from Greek φωτός (photos), meaning "light", and γράφω (graphos), meaning "I write") is a person who makes photographs. A professional photographer uses photography to earn money whilst amateur photographers take photographs for pleasure and to record an event, emotion, place, or person."

And photobod, the monkey reference was not aimed a you.:whistle:


why not John I like monkeys they are very entertaining just like me
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

www.dcimages.org.uk
"A good photograph is one that communicate a fact, touches the heart, leaves the viewer a changed person for having seen it. It is, in a word, effective." - Irving Penn

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12 years 8 months ago #115530 by Kenya See
Anyone can take a photo, but much fewer can be rightfully called a photographer in my opinion


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12 years 8 months ago #115534 by Dori
But can't the level of knowledge/use of knowledge be factored in? I consider my self an amateur photographer, someone who wants to learn from the pros and implement what I am taught.

Don't pi$$ me off, I am running out of room to store the bodies...

Resident Texasotan...

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12 years 8 months ago - 12 years 8 months ago #115545 by The Time Capturer

Dori wrote: But can't the level of knowledge/use of knowledge be factored in? I consider my self an amateur photographer, someone who wants to learn from the pros and implement what I am taught.


Definitely! Knowledge is very important in photography. And your "desire" to learn is what's gonna make you excel.

IMO, photography is:

60% knowledge
30% creativity
10% luck

... or something similar. "Desire" is in there somewhere as well...

Sure, practice makes perfect but, unless you learn from your mistakes, you are only perfecting your ability to fail.
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12 years 8 months ago - 12 years 8 months ago #115552 by Henry Peach
My favorite definition of a real photographer: Has to have owned a 3 legged dog named tripod.


"A velvet hand, a hawk’s eye - these we should all have." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
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